The Lord's Prisons...

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One of the first sermons I preached when beginning to serve as a pastor of Mount Zion Fellowship had to do with following Christ patiently. I felt in my spirit that the Charismatic movement would be divided over the issue of waiting on the Lord; of choosing patient suffering rather than being used mightily or otherwise exalted.

The majority of the Charismatic movement would seek the power of Christ, attempting to do "great things." The minority would cease from their own works and wait in the Lord’s prison, patiently bearing their cross after Christ until Jesus saw fit to act. What I have seen over the last thirty years has confirmed my impression.

You have taken from me my closest friends and have made me repulsive to them. I am confined and cannot escape; (Psalms 88:8)

(11/28/2010). It may be true that the fundamental principle of the Kingdom of God is that life comes from death, not from life. We think of Christ’s resurrection, of Aaron’s rod that budded, of the Apostle Paul’s seemingly endless suffering.

Isn’t it true that Samson killed more in his death than he did in his life?

But life coming only from death is repugnant to the adamic nature. We see throughout Christian history that believers have sought to bear witness of Christ by building ornate cathedrals or developing their own plans to bring the Gospel to the ends of the earth. But this is not God’s way.

The Apostle Paul said he had the sentence of death in himself that he would not trust in himself but in God who raises the dead. This is the only correct approach to Christian life and ministry.

For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life: indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. (II Corinthians 1:8,9)

As if that were not enough, God permitted Satan to send a physical handicap upon Paul to make doubly certain that Paul’s ministry would not proceed from Paul’s own abilities. Consequently Paul’s writings continue to bring life and understanding to us to the present hour.

We can see, then, that the current American Christian emphasis on Christ helping us live the "good life" is the exact opposite of the Gospel of the Kingdom. The American "good life" is that of health and wealth, fun at the beach playing volley ball, romantic adventures in Hawaii, and plenty of time for the pursuit of pleasure and entertainment.

The Gospel of the Kingdom is one of patient suffering of denial, meekness, hope, laying up our treasures in Heaven, willingness to endure every form of hardship without complaining. When the Apostle Paul commanded us to "rejoice always," he was in prison.

If I am not mistaken, severe Divine judgment is approaching America. Our worst sin is the murder of the unborn. God and his angels might laugh at the foolish antics of the sexually perverted before the deceived people destroy their personalities with indulgence in lust. But God will never laugh when a developing person is murdered to suit the whims of a woman or of the mother of a pregnant daughter.

Whatever plans our government has for the betterment of America will fail eventually while the practice of abortion-on-demand continues.

The coming trouble will be an excellent opportunity for Christian people to learn to have the sentence of death in themselves; to trust in God who raises the dead. No doubt numerous believers will take advantage of this opportunity, and the result will be a revival of unprecedented authority and power.

God will move when we come to the end of our strength and wisdom. Samson (the Body of Christ) will bow in death and the kingdom of Satan will come crashing down and never be seen again.

During modern times (I don’t know when or where it started) a spirit has entered the Christian ministry. I am not sure what to call it, except that it is a false prophet. It seeks to use the power of Christ apart from the traditional cross-carrying obedience and patient waiting on the Lord that we usually associate with discipleship.

There is talk of binding the principalities over cities; putting on our administrative hat; stepping out in faith. I suppose the faith and prosperity errors are part of it. We have had the "laughing revival." There have been "revivals" in Canada and Florida that seem to be based more on enthusiasm than on the Spirit of God.

From my point of view, the concept that the Kingdom of God is here already and we now have the authority and power to demonstrate the powers of the age to come, is a delusion. This attitude does not agree with the idea of waiting patiently at Jesus’ feet and obeying him as he builds his Church.

Then we have "speaking the creative word." It is a fact that a member of the Body of Christ may be guided to speak a creative word, but only as Jesus directs, not because the believer thinks it is a good idea.

What we may not understand, we Christians, is that Jesus is the only lawful Administrator of the power of the Spirit. We are not to attempt to use the gifts of the Spirit without looking to the Lord for guidance. We are to keep looking to Christ so we will know what we are to exercise and when we are to exercise it.

If this simple fact were brought to the attention of God’s people we might have real revival on our hands, not the kind of worked-up business we have been experiencing.

I believe it is time to think about this.

For myself, I don’t know how much of the present commotion is of the Lord Jesus. Are some people genuinely converted to Christ? Is lasting fruit being borne? I think it is, in some cases.

The thirteenth chapter of the Book of Revelation tells us of the False Prophet who will assist Antichrist. Notice that the False Prophet has the two horns (power) of the lamb but speaks with the voice of the dragon. The voice of the dragon is that of self-will. "I will; I will; I will." It is easy to apply this description of what is taking place in some of the Charismatic ministries.

Will it be self-centered Christians who support the self-centered Antichrist world system? I think so. The following passage is found in the second chapter of the Book of Revelation:

Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life. (Revelation 2:10)

God permits (or directs) Satan to put us in prison. But God always is in control. The length of time is determined in advance. The reward is the authority and power of endless, incorruptible Divine Life.

The imprisonment is that of our personal cross. Our personal cross takes two forms: we are not given what we so fervently desire at the time we desire it; or we have to live in a situation that we deplore, for an unknown period of imprisonment.

When Audrey and I first came to Mount Zion, we resolved to do only what the immediate situation called for, the practical actions any normal person would take. We resolved to avoid planning major programs until we knew what Christ was saying.

If you think waiting on the Lord like this is easy you possibly have never tried it. There are several forms of pressure that urge us to get out and do something: "Win souls for Christ." "Build a big church." "Compel them to come in." "Win your city for Christ." "Take dominion over the spiritual rulers of your community." In other words, "Come down from the cross!"

So we have waited to see what Christ wanted. No word came. Younger ministers passed us up on their way to the "top." I already was fifty years old with an earned doctorate in education from the University of Rochester in New York. I am supposed to bring glory to my alma mater.

So here I am, waiting for Christ to do something, an old man on my way to the bottom, in a little church in Poway, California. Someone told me that "Poway" is an Indian term meaning "the end of the road." That does not help! But you know what! I have determined to see this business through. If there is a God in Heaven, a Christ who said he would build his Church, let’s find out." Kind of daring, I guess. Meanwhile some are saying we must go door to door and save souls. Oh well . . .!

I have stuck to my guns. It is thirty years later. The church is still less than a hundred in attendance. We have not made any effort to build the church. The Spirit of God always seems to bring in the people we need for what we are doing.

Meanwhile, our outreach is impressive, I believe, in books going out, television, our Internet sites, our daily essay on E-mail (over a thousand subscribers who read my rantings seven days a week). We still are not making any plans or trying to do anything.

In fact, you are reading these words right now and I don’t even know who you are or where you live, maybe in Vietnam. We actually see Vietnam on our statistics page for the WOR site, as well as France, England, Italy, the United Arab Republics, and other places you might not think of.

I prayed years ago that God would grant to me to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom wherever people breathe the air. I think he is thar answering prayer.

Meanwhile I am in the Lord’s prison. You know, resurrection power comes only from the cross, not from our religious efforts no matter how sincere or violent. We can try to twist God’s arm, but all we get are manifestations that seem to be the Holy Spirit but leave a bad taste in our mouth

When we think of Abraham offering Isaac, the numerous kinds of suffering the Apostle Paul endured, the privations of those heavenly witnesses mentioned in the eleventh chapter of the Book of Hebrews, we realize that God’s way is to reduce us to nothing, to remove all our ability to do anything, so his wisdom and power might prevail.

God sent away most of Gideon’s army before the battle, so the Israelites would not boast in their own strength.

Are you being denied what you want? Are you in a miserable situation? Pray earnestly that you will receive what you want. But do not force your way out of your prison! In order to escape you will have to break God’s laws. The route to deception is to try to make our life on earth a pleasant experience. Accept the trials God sends, and the blessings also. They are equally important.

When the Lord Jesus told us to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow him, he knew what he was saying. The greatest enemy we have, even worse than our sinful nature, is our self-will; our personal ambition. Our personal ambition is slain in our prison, slain by our cross. This is the purpose for the imprisonment. It is to kill our self-will.

When a self-willed person enters the ministry, what we have is self-will in the ministry. This is what we often see today: an ambitious person attempting to make a name for himself or herself.

I guess being a minister of the Gospel must appeal to people. Maybe it is better than working. For myself, this is not my choice. There are many things I enjoy doing. I would not have picked out the ministry for a vocation. I am in the ministry because Christ called me in a supernatural experience while I was in the Marine Corps during World War Two. Yes, some of us veterans are still living. I am pastoring as a favor for my best Friend, the Lord Jesus. Otherwise I would be doing something more pleasurable.

But, like Moses I think it was, I am looking forward to the reward from a grateful King. So I will keep on pastoring until he says "enough."

I know, from reading the Bible, that the—shall I say monkey business—that goes on today with all its hype and begging for money probably is not Divine Life coming from the cross.

We have had several "revivals" in the last several years. But you know what? I am waiting for God to move. I have been in Pentecost for sixty years. I think I will know when I see the real thing. I haven’t seen it yet, but I believe genuine revival, the harvest rain prophesied for the last days, is at hand.

When it comes, you will know it and I will know it. There will be no more "big" preachers. It will be a "sackcloth" revival. Little people doing what the Lord has told them to do, and then fading back into the woodwork. Such people refuse to take the Glory. They want Christ alone to be magnified in their bodies.

So I invite you to wait with me in your own prison. Don’t try to be anyone special. Walk with the lowly of heart. Let’s see what our Lord Jesus Christ will do if we keep our hands off the Ark, because the Ark certainly is coming down the road.

John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. (Revelation 1:9) (Taken from "The Lord's Prisons," an excerpt from The Theology of Robert B. Thompson. Copyright © 2010, by Robert B. Thompson.)

You can hear the morning sermon at morning. http://www.wor.org/audio/audio.htm

You can hear the evening sermon at evening. http://www.wor.org/audio/audio.htm

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